Half the Sky Movement: The Game Launches March 4

With the strong support of a coalition of nonprofits and private partners, Half the Sky Movement: The Game will debut next week on Monday March 4 with the aim of empowering women and girls worldwide. Recognized as one of the more ambitious efforts in the games for social change space, it will be the first Facebook game with direct translation between virtual content to real-life action.

The game is a new, key element in the transmedia campaign that was inspired by Nicholas D. Kristof’s and Sheryl WuDunn’s best-selling book “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.”

“Half the Sky Movement: The Game, more than three years in the making, is one of the most ambitious efforts yet to entice a mass audience to social media games with the goal of social change.”
— The New York Times

“Half the Sky Movement: The Game, developed in partnership with the nonprofit Games for Change, is their latest step to bring that message to a much larger audience. It breaks the mold of other games-for-change by trying to raise money at the same time as it raises awareness.”
— Fast Company

“Executive produced by Games for Change, the title has support from Zynga.org, Ford Foundation, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, The Rockefeller Foundation, Pearson Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, and the United Nations Foundation. All of the proceeds will benefit The Fistula Foundation, GEMS, Heifer International, United Nations Foundation, ONE, Room to Read, and World Vision.”
— VentureBeat

Half the Sky Movement: The Game celebrated an incredibly successful pre-launch party last night in at L’Ermitage Hotel in Los Angeles, hosted by Maria Shriver. As covered on HauteLiving.com and InStyle, she gave opening remarks alongside Nicholas Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn, Games for Change’s Co-Presidents Asi Burak and Michelle Byrd, Kate Grant of the Tides Foundation, and Erin Ganju of Room to Read. Actress Malin Akerman and Bobby Shriver also attended.

In support of the March 4 launch, Half the Sky Movement: The Game is hosting a 24-hour online game-a-thon from Wednesday, March 6, at 12 p.m. EST through Thursday, March 7, at 12 p.m. EST. Participants are not required to play 24 hours consecutively but are encouraged to recruit as many friends as possible to play in this 24-hour period. Even a 15-minute session makes a difference and amplifies the game’s positive social change. Join the game-a-thon’s Thunderclap to spread the word.

Keep an eye on Half the Sky Movement: The Game’s Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr feeds for the latest updates and additional information.